now, officials say it is not, at least for the moment, a concern. we have much more on that straight ahead. good morning, everyone. it's thursday, april 18th. we have a lot going on this morning. along with joe and me, and toom failed in the senate yesterday and very emotional reaction in washington including a frustrated president obama and show that to you. as a public service, in our opinion, we feel the need to read all of the names of all the senators who voted no on the issue. an issue supported by 90% of americans. we have a three-hour show and take the time to show you all of those names and perhaps a symbolic disconnect between washington, d.c. and the rest of the country. the investigation into the boston bombings. lots of confusion with some media outlets incorrectly reporting an arrest had been made. pete williams is the best inf te

business on this stuff with us ahead on the investigation. with us on the set is mark halpern and former governor howard dean and mike barnicle still in boston and in washington, the huffington post, sam stein. first the latest in west texas. i have reports coming in, joe, say the place looks like a lair literally war zone. charles hadlock has the latest. >> as you reported, the briefing ended here. >> reporter: we will have another one at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. here is what we know so far. at least 160 people have been injured in the explosion of a fertilizer plant in west texas. 20 miles north of waco and 80 miles south of dallas/ft. worth. among the fatal casualties are between 5 and 15 and among those are 3 to 5 firefighters and

perhaps one law enforcement officer. houses were blocked around this fertilizer plant. i was in kauffman, county, 60 miles away and we could feel it there. the concussion rattled the windows. we thought it was the approaching storms but it turned out it was much worse than that. it was an explosion that killed several people here in town and perhaps dozens more. mika? >> willie? >> willie geist here. is there any suspension whatsoever of criminal element to this at all? i think the officer who just spoke at the press conference defected that a little bit and hadn't seen any sign of that. is there any suspicion or are they looking into that? >> the officers said they want to treat it as a crime scene until they can rule it out it it wasn't a crime and it was, indeed an industrial accident. in fact, texas has a long history of industrial accidents

involving anhydrous ammonia dating 66 years ago on april 16th, 1947, thousands of people were killed in texas city which a ship carrying the same type of fertilizer that blew up here exploded on a ship. the ship started fire. people started coming down to the docks to see what was burning. the ship blew up and killed thousands of people but it wasn't over then. a second ship, the high flyer, was right next to it and the next day, it exploded and that explosion was so powerful, it knocked airplanes out of the sky. that was the worst industrial accident in all of last -- the last century and now we have had it again here in west, texas, anhydrous ammonia, a product of fertilizer which is desperately needed here, this is a farming town. this town had a fertilizer plant here to make the fertilizer to put on the crops to grow the crops. unfortunately, they had a fire

and fire and fertilizer do not mix. >> nbc charles hadlock, according to investigators on the scene it is still being evacuated. bill karins, let's bring you in and with the latest on the weather. >> two concerns. now on the ground what is in the air and what direction is it blowing in and for the fires that are still burning from the explosion, how are the firefighters dealing with it and trying to put them out? it's a windy night and difficult task for the first responders. here is west, texas, 30 to 35-mile-per-hour winds all night and that is very difficult conditions for the firefighters to fight. there is this cold front coming down and rain and thunderstorms about to move through west texas along with strong thunderstorms. behind it, the winds are going to shift like they did up here in dallas to 40 miles per hour. we just heard in the last press conference they are not really

too concerned anywhe more with gases in the air and those are dangerous to first responders and new information we just heard. they are not worried any more what is in the air but getting the fires out from the explosion last night. you can see from the radar the rain is about to begin. it's a small town. one thing i was just looking at is there was a middle school right across the street. right across the street from this explosion and thankfully it happened and everybody cleared out of it. from the sounds it, the school may not exist any more. >> we will learn more as the day goes on. some homes were devastated. bill karins, we will be in touch with you that as well. president obama is set to visit boston later today. authorities have the face, but not the identity of at least one person seen leaving a black bag near the scene of the explosions. they are circulating a photo of a man in a white baseball hat to

law enforcement agencies that despite a confusing day of reports yesterday that a suspect had already been arrested. pictures and video from surveillance camera and civilians have helped lead authorities to a person who sat down a heavy duffel bag at the site of the second explosion. authorities have been recovering evidence from the scene from bbs and nails and shrapnel and batteries and wiring to a pressure cooker lid that landed on the top of a nearby building. now they are trying to trace their origin. meanwhile, the boston federal courthouse was evacuated yesterday afternoon. employees were said they were told a code red in effect and ordered to lead and added up to a tense day with no resolution and a lot of conflicting media reports along the way. joe? >> a lot of conflicting media reports yesterday afternoon.

many of us began getting the bullet there had been an arrest. that police identified the man that was responsible for the bombing and had taken him into custody and cnn, in fact, broke that and went with that story for some time. then the associated press followed. and other news agencies followed as well. mike barnicle, it was pete williams who went against every instinct in this 24/7 news culture where people seem far more interested in getting it first than getting it right. it was pete williams who kept saying that information is incorrect. and he acted like a news reporter is supposed to act. he actually waited until he got the information and passed it on to everyone else. not an especially good day for

journalism yesterday with news outlets messing up on an issue this important to the american people because they are just interested in speed instead of accuracy. >> yeah. i know. it wasn't a good day, joe, for this business. the pressures, of course, are enormous today. the pressures to get things first is e nermnormous, we know. it's now a first, let's get it first! look. we all make mistakes in this business, in every business. i probably lead the league in mistakes in terms of getting things into newspapers and what have you. but the larger issue here is what is going on in the back bay about six blocks from where we sit now out in front of the holy cross cathedral before the president of the united states

will be appearing here at 11:00 a.m. this morning. what is going on six blocks from now, is the continual gathering of evidence by forensics teams from the atf, alcohol, tobacco and firearms and the fbi and secret service. they are going to get it right. they are going to get it correct. they don't want to jump into any judgments. they don't want to be wrong when, indeed, they do bring a suspect or suspects into court for arraignment. i think that's the thing to focus on. pete williams focused on that clearly yesterday and he got it right. >> mike barnicle, thank you. we have got another big story that we need to cover this morning so i am going to move on. we will step back into boston for sure throughout the show. but on capitol hill, less than 55% of the senate was willing to back a proposal that poll show supported by roughly 90% of the public. the push for expanded background checks for gun purchases was defeated yesterday in a stinging

loss for president obama and, i might add to the script, for the country. and also for the victims of violence who had lobbied congress to reform the nation's laws. >> the yeas are 54 and nays 46. under the previous order requiring 60% for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. [ screaming ] >> order in the senate! >> in the end, four democrats voted against the toomey/manchin bill that would have extended background check requirements to recover gun sales at gun shows and on the internet. majority leader harry reid also voted no so he could bring the bill to the floor at another time. four republicans broke party ranks to support the measure and there they are. but for president obama and family members of those killed in sandy hook, tucson and all over the country, the vote was incomprehensible.

>> action by congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand. if it could have prevented those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future while preserving our second amendment rights, we had an obligation to try! and this legislation met that test. and too many senators failed theirs. this was a pretty shameful day for washington. but this effort is not over. i want to make it clear to the american people, we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence, so long as the american people don't give up on them. >> in statement, make mike bloomberg's group said, quote, democrats are quick to blame could is not stand united. republicans so quick to blame

democrats for not being tough enough on crime handed criminals a huge victory by preserving their ability to buy guns illegal at gun shows and online and keeping the traffic market well fed. this amendment would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest sit wecitizens to exerci fundamental right or face prosecution. as we have noted previously, expanding background checks at gun shows or elsewhere will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools. by the way, a new "the washington post"/abc poll show 86% support a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online. so as we toss it to you, joe, to take it to the panel on the front page of "the new york times," it kind of says it all. joe biden with his head in his hands. take it away.

>> mika, there's so much to be said here. i think we have to start first let's start with the last thing you read. a statement by chris cox. a man i served with who i've always had great respect for. he's now the lobbyist for the nra. at least when he was in congress, he was considered a reasonable man. his statement was not reasonable. in fact, it wasn't even accurate. in fact, as joe man chin, the author of the bill, said yesterday, anybody that suggested that private gun sales, individual sales from one person to another, a family member or another, a friend to another, would be outlawed or would have to even go through this sort of check is lying. the nra statement is a lie. and i am ashamed of chris cox this morning that he would, for whatever reason, i won't even -- i won't even try to speculate as to why he felt it necessary to

lie about what was in this bill. but he did. so the nra, unfortunately, to the very end, from the morning we found out that 20 children were slaughtered and six educators were slaughtered at sandy hook until last night, the nra has acted shamefully, putting out violent video games that 4-year-old kids could play with guns, making horrific statements. the nra is just absolutely behaved shame loessly and they will, of course, pay a cost for this. they will pay it over time. maybe not this year and maybe not next, but they will pay a cost because this battle, mika, is not over. in fact, i got bad news for the senators that were cowarding and running away from reporters who they were asked how they would vote on this bill. i make a guarantee, this fight has just begun and it's going to

keep going because there are 90% of us, we are the 90% who believe that we should do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. we should do everything that we can to keep guns out of the hands of violent rapists. we should do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of gang members. this is very simple. we're just asking for a background check to make sure that the terrorists that are playing tapes and sending them around the world and saying, buy guns in america because their background check system is broken. we want to make sure that they can't do that. we want to frustrate the terrorists and we want to frustrate gang members and we want to frustrate criminals. >> yeah. >> 90%, mika, will not be ignored. and i look at this list and i look at these people that voted

no. let's be very clear this morning. they didn't vote the way they wanted to vote. they voted the way the nra wanted them to vote because every one that voted yesterday knows in their heart of hearts after reading this bill that the bill would have made america safer. the bill would have made their state safer from terrorists, from criminals, from gang members. it would have made their community safer. it would have made their neighborhood streets safer. this bill, the president said this bill would only have saved one life. no, this bill would have saved many, many lives. so the american people were insulted yesterday. >> yep. >> and i tell you what, i'm sick and tired of people on capitol hill that i've known for a long time that i've respected, i'm sick and tired of them insulting

my intelligence, acting like i am stupid enough and you're stupid enough and 90% of americans are stupid enough to believe that this bill would lead to a national registry! i hear it all the time! hey, the bill itself puts people in jail for up to 15 years. if they keep these names and start a national registry. it's offensive. it's stupid. and, mika, you know what? in the long run, all of those people that voted for a more dangerous america are going to pay at the polls. mark my words. this is going to come up and it's going to hit them in the face. >> i'm going to be taking a look at each and everybody who voted no. we will be putting them up on the screen throughout the show. also just to add to your point, joe. which was so beautifully put. this sums up just how broken d.c. is. this is the one area where this

should have passed and then the next thing should have been really tough new mental health laws, regulations, programs that help make the background checks work. instead, we languish in national stupidity over an issue should be black and white. we are not taking guns away. cars need licenses and insurance and things that are dangerous need to be monitored or controlled in our society so they don't get in the hands of criminals. why is this so hard, howard? why? >> i will say put an optimistic spin on this. first of all, i think we should give pat toomey and joe manchin an enormous amount of credit. they are courageous and stood alone and came from conservative states. pat's constituency is very conservative and one of the most conservative people in the senate. joe manchin, west virginia, pro gun state and they stood up and did the right thing.

secondly, this is really, i think the end of the civil war and the party. the nra is best terrifying the members of the senate which they did a good job yesterday. we had to go through this to get there. n i think there may be another vote, if not, another bill of some sort but this is -- this is the upheaval in the republican party. this is the attempt of the leadership of the republican party in the form of people like pat toomey to get back to the middle so they can win elections again and nra is very busy recruiting the angry people to them and that is what this is about. i think we had to have this battle. we may have had to lose this battle in order to galvanize the american people to understand how they are being blackmailed by the far right. >> a lot to go through to get anywhere. mark halpern, bring us into the

mindset of someone who voted no here? what was the process of thinking before making that vote? >> well, look. it's a complicated issue and yesterday was an emotional day. i don't want to impugn people's motives. a lot of number of republican senators would have voted different had they not been afraid of the consequences. the president and vice president were emotional yesterday and i think they are struggling how to regroup from this. it's hard for me to see another vote any time soon unless they change the bill slightly. >> mark. >> yeah. >> can i ask, how is this a complicated issue? >> yeah. i really want to know. >> you said -- you said it was a complicated issue. as you know, you can go back for six years. i don't impugn people's character for how they vote. i don't judge liberals. i don't judge very conservative people. i know people come from different parts of the country

and i always talk about the need to compromise and come together. how is this a complicated vote? it doesn't infringe on anybody's second amendment right and everybody knows that. >> here is why i think it's complicated because, in my career, i don't remember a situation like this where public opinion was so obviously in one direction and there was -- there was public focus on it, white house focus on it, and whatever is in the minds of the republicans and the democrats who voted against it makes this complicated and i don't remember an issue every like this where it was 90/10. >> i don't either. it's complicated because the answer is so simple and it's complicated trying to figure out in the hell people would actually provide the opportunity for terrorists, for gang members, for criminals, for violent rapists to continue to

purchase weapons on the internet and gun shows without a background check. willie geist, in my calculation, willie, that's pretty damn simple, if you're interested in keeping america safe instead of keeping your own political seat safe. >> go back a couple of months. this was supposed to be the minimum that the president and the country was going to get on gun control. there was 90% issue. a 90/10 issue. we were talking about an assault weapons ban possibly limiting the size of the magazine clips and whittled down the weeks and months to this background check that seemed logical to 90% of the country and now the president doesn't get that. so you have to wonder with the most powerful man in the world running this, backed by the newtown families. >> backed by lodge k. >> backed by gabby giffords and

this put together. >> a lot of law enforcement. >> if you couldn't get over the finish line with the wake of the most horrific gun incident any of us can remember you have to wonder what the future of gun control in this country is, joe. >> absolutely. >> i got to say, mike barnicle, i'm not just saying it. most of the times, i know. when you lose, you lose. i agree with howard dean on this one. we have only begun to fight. this is just the beginning. with every violent act that occurs in the future and with guns being shipped from one gang to another, with terrorists going on the internet advertising how easy it is to kill americans because of our weak background check system, mike, has just begun. this will not end until we have a background check system that

keeps our families and americans families safer. >> joe, two points here. one, a lot of analyst and a lot of news reports last evening and this morning are stating that the president suffered a defeat here with the failure yesterday to pass this bill. the president did not suffer a defeat. the american people suffered the defeat yesterday in the united states senate and that leads to the second point. the united states senate is a broken institution. several weeks ago, the vice president of the united states and john lewis stood at the bridge in selma, alabama, commemorating a horrific event there in the 1960s. at that time the united states senate was controlled by democrats. russell long of louisiana and many others. had they been in the united states senate today, had they operated then the way the united states senate operates today, the civil rights legislation of 1964, the voting rights act of 1965 would not have been passed.

50 plus one is a majority. not 60 votes. >> all right. >> you know, mika, i've got to go back to the beginning of this session. there was a lot of talk about filibuster reform. i was out there talking about the need for filibuster reform. for whatever reason, the democrats didn't push. i remember saying it. the day they made the rules to get rid of the filibuster, make 50 plus one pass, if they had made that decision when they set up the senate, then this bill would have passed. i got to say just really quickly. i know we got to go to break, but mark halpern, kelly ayotte

of new hampshire. voting against the bill, i don't know that she really helped her cause in new hampshire for re-election, did she? >> west joe look. the way a political price to pay which you're talking about and a lot of these members are not up right away in this cycle will be can they be candidates to run against them in case of the democrats mark pryor? i don't think he'll lose to a republican if you're talking about a political price it means some democrat has to run in a democratic primary saying i'm better to represent the democrats and the people of arkansas than mark pryor because of this vote. >> i will predict this is the end of -- career. governor schweitzer is ahead of him in the polls and bring brian to the race and he'll be the next democratic senator from montana. >> in a retirement? >> yeah, either baucus will

retire or lose the primary to switzer. switzer 20-point edge over him. in the democratic primary can you imagine max baucus? montana is a purple state and most people don't recognize that but it is. so that is casualty number one before we even get started. you're absolutely right. this is exactly what is going to happen. >> well, if people are worried about politics, when it comes to political progrenostication, jo you'll get bashed on twitter and people will lash out at you. you're always right about the political ramifications of something. you can always see a step ahead and you're right on this. unfortunately, it seems like some democrats and some republicans in washington are going to learn the hard way. coming up on "morning joe" -- >> you know what? >> yes? >> you don't ignore. you do not ignore 90% of the american people on an issue of

public safety. you don't do it. they did it yesterday. and i've got to say, mark it down, this is going to be a turning point in the history of the republican party as well. and let those out there chattering, let them chatter away all they want to and scream like high enas. this party that killed this background check yesterday this party is moving toward extinction. a new republican party will replace it and a vote people will look back on and say that party, that extremism that was unsustainable. coming up, senator joe manchin gives us his reaction to the defeat yesterday of his gun legislation. also senators john mccain and chuck schumer join the conversation and the latest details on the breaking story out of texas where a factory explosion devastating has killed as many as 15 people.

several firefighters still missing. more than 160 people injured and they are still looking for more victims. homes have been completely flattened in this blast. let's go straight to bill karins with an update on the weather which is impacting the situation even more there. >> it's going to be tough to get any media in this tiny texas town. i'll show you a map of this west texas town in the fertilizer plant specifically. i was just amazed. it's a tiny town. this is the fertilizer plant on the east side of town and literally has three tanks. this is where the main explosion was. very close to this this is a middle school right across the street. this building here is west haven rest home. west haven nursing home and a

little community hospital. we are hearing most of the devastation up to the homes in this vicinity. a map that shows you this little tiny town and the destruction that was done from this fertilizer explosion late last night. we mentioned the winds. they were concerned overthit with what was happening with this explosion, the toxins in the air. now we are not so concerned with that any more. they said the air has been cleared and it's blowing and howling from the south overnight at 30 to 40 miles per hour. the worst part of that was for the firefighters, they had a really difficult time putting out those fires caused by the explosion. it's about to rain in the town right now. they got some thunderstorms that are about to come through. they will also be seeing the winds gusting continually out of the northwest throughout the afternoon. that is the big story in west texas, the little small town that is dealing with such devastation and destruction this morning. more to come on "morning joe." you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. ♪ i do a lot of research on angie's list

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star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave? ♪ >> what a great scene in boston last night as the crowd at the boston bruins nhl game took over the national anthem after the first couple of seconds. the bruins were playing the sabres in the first professional sporting event in boston since monday's bombings at the marathon and they got an exciting game and we want to show you this because of the way they celebrated afterward. third round after shoot-out. sabres drew stafford slips one in. buffalo got the win but after the game the two teams waving their sticks in the air for the support of the city of boston.

see these moments so often. yankees stadium after 9/11 where they get together and recovering a little bit together. >> we will be covering that as well. mike barnicle is in boston covering the story. another big story out of west texas. this morning, rescue workers are still searching for survivors after a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant that rocked the small town of west. last night, the mayor of that town checked everything out on the scene. he just started speaking at a news conference moments ago and gave an update in terms of the situation. it is still a rescue operation. they are still trying to find the possibility of survivors. at this point they have numbers of casualty. the number is expected to grow. more than a hundred people injured. it is a devastating scene and looks like a war zone there as many people who are there are

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tomorrow on "morning joe," former president bill clinton will be with us. up next we bring you the names, all of them, of the senators who voted against common sense yesterday. we will be right back. clemmie's looking for a change from fast food breakfast.

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or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin. 43 past the hour. we are covering a breaking story in west, texas. we are covering the investigation in boston. we are also covering the incredible story out of washington, d.c. the gun legislation and those who voted no. with us now is mike allen and senior reporter for politico, maggie haberman. bring them on the west wing on gun control, mike. i'll sit back and ask alex to put up the names as we speak of all of those senators who voted know on background checks. to me editorializing the face of cowardness. to the viewer, you can bring

your own conclusions but we would like to show everybody's name and face. >> the vote was 54-46. you'll see some of the names. inside the west wing on gun control. just talk about how we got here. obviously the president but a lot of his weight behind this. his own capital and he toured the country with an outside strategy and seemed to have, at least on this issue, the country behind him. how did he fail? >> he did have the country behind him and he did something unusual which he really leaned in to an issue where victory was never guaranteed. we have talked on your air again and again about how hard this would be even how unlikely this would be. but we saw very unusual side of the president yesterday. we are told that he found out the vote, the actual count he was in the situation room for a different briefing. he knew what the whip count was so he wasn't watching c-span. we were told he was glum there but as your viewers have seen, irate by the time he got out to the rose garden. gabby giffords and op-ed in "the

new york times" calling herself furious. he didn't use that word. >> serious was the word. >> and talking about democrats. >> correct. >> calling out his own party. >> calling out his own party. you saw in the story we had today in politico a question whether ofa which is the president's reconfigured campaign arm is actually going to target members of his own party. they are going to go after the no votes. their big question has always been would it be democrats? that is still an open question. >> democrats whose names we will be putting up on the screen as well. joe, take it away. >> you look at the democrats and the republicans. the democrats are going to be facing an uphill battle in primary fights. i suspect some will be defeated. and that will change the calculation on gun votes. for those democrats who coward in the corner and were afraid to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and convicted felonf, they will pay a heavy price.

for some maybe in a safe district that won't be touched but those not in the safest district this is key. you don't ignore 90% of what the voting population wants when you're talking about the safety of americans. the safety of our families. the safety of our communities. the safety of our schools. the safety that we feel when we send our kids to malls and churches and college. this is, mike allen, i had said before, you picked it up in the playbook. i just want to be clear. i said this party is heading towards extinction. talking about the 2013 conversion of the republican party. a new republican party, though, is going to come in its place. this sort of extremism is going to be called out by the 90%. we're the 90% and we are going to win. this is just the first bamtings. >> joe, there is one particular

excuse from several senators that the white house seemed to be decisive and i'd love to get your view. a couple of senators, both parties, said to the white house we could be with you on guns or immigration or gay marriage. we could be maybe with you on two of those three but three at once is just too much. >> what? what? what? that is the excuse? >> that was the excuse. >> i never looked -- i never looked at a bill and said, well, gee, i'm going to vote against this thing because it's the right thing to do. >> right. >> if you're going to have to choose which bill to follow, it seems to me you follow the bill that, first of all, involves safety. secondly, involves keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists. third involves keeping the guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. >> yeah. >> and has 90% of the american people behind them. now, this was a group of

lawmakers cowarding against a way from the nra. >> okay. >> an organization that supported these background checks just a decade ago and it bears repeating that several, several, sam stein, of these senators that voted against background checks to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and gang members and violent rapists supported it, not so long ago. >> yeah. there's a bit of flip-flopping going on here, isn't there? one of the things i wanted to return to is what barnicle said in the previous block which is that this is a reality of the senate that we live in. it's a feature. it's not a bug. rural state senators have as much power from senators from very densely populated states. i saw a statistic from "the new york times" and it might have been updated since then. senators who voted for background checks represented something close to 65% of the population so if you had

representative diagnosemocracy. not to get lost in the shuffle. this was a complete defeat of the gun policy reforms. federal trafficking statute as uncontroversial as a background check bill and given federal authorities more power to crack down on straw purchases of guns and that went down in defeat. there was clearly a universal problem -- >> that is unbelievable, sam! it is unbelievable that, for some reason, my party is now defining conservative as a promotion of gun trafficking for gang members across america and my party is now, for some reason, embracing criminals and violent offenders. >> and some democrats too. >> and democrats too. being able to purchase guns. democrats have stood showered-to-shoulder than somebody like kelly ayotte in the northeast would have had to

follow john mccain and i think would have voted to follow john mccain. if barack obama can just get those democrats lined shoulder-to-shoulder and i think the president needs to get mike bloomberg in to stare at every one of them and say i don't know how powerful you think you are but you're not powerful to withstand the money i will throw in your district. >> i was talking to a bunch of people after the vote what could have been done differently and what could be done differently going forward. basically, the only solution that these people had, including david axelrod, you have to show these people electoral downside of voting this way. i'm interested to see what happens in 2014 how they play in these districts and not just democrats who opposed the bill but who took tough votes who did back background checks. >> good for them. >> we try not to be vitamin rvi

this show. we have used the words cowards. i wonder if we show a certain tape we have been showing on this show. mike? >> i think you're right it was the democrats with the fuse of what we saw in the rose garden and we are told that the democrat, that the white house is most disappointed in and maddest at is the freshman center in north dakota, heidi heitkamp. they went to her office to lobby her and very surprised. she was the democrat most in play. the others they short of knew. >> she is not up to re-election next year and why they are so upset about this. bloomberg said his aides saying

he will spend money to defeat people and support people who voted in favor of the legislation. >> very quickly. there have been a lot of people trying to project what this means for the rest of the second term for president obama if he is weakened by it. how do you see this impacting other immigration, gretietting kind of a grand bargain on this? >> i think poorly. i think he spends a huge amount of capital and nothing to show for it. i think he cared about this issue and very moved about what he saw in newtown and meeting with these families. i think this is a bad moment for him. >> what if it motivates him? the cool obama is now fiery? >> we will see. >> i'd rather not to get to this point to see that. mike and maggie, thank you so much. so great to have you on the set. >> mika, before we end the hour let's talk about the honor roll yesterday, the people that actually took courageous stands. >> yeah. >> that where it wasn't

necessarily easy. >> yes. >> kay hagan and mary landrieu and john mccain coming through in arizona. i wish jeff flake would have followed him. pat toomey and joe manchin a hero. mark kirk and some others made really difficult votes yesterday. if you define difficult by supporting something that 90% of americans do and, apparently, in the united states senate in 2013, that's how difficult is defined. it is sad. it is pathetic. >> that's perfect timing because still ahead on "morning joe," joe, two senators who voted yes on the toomey/manchin background checks bill. senators john mccain and chuck schumer will join us. more "morning joe" when we come back. ♪

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♪ coming up next, reverend al sharpton and tina brown join the set and a live report from msnbc justice correspondent pete williams on the latest on the boston bombings. more "morning joe" in a moment. (alarm clock buzzer) ♪

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out the window. >> are you serious? >> to hear first responders tell it. some homes and businesses are simply gone. obliterated. this morning, rescue workers are searching for survivors after a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant rocked the small town of west texas last night. at least 160 people injured in the blast. officials have confirmed there have been fatalities anywhere from 5 to 15, who knows. they haven't given an exact total. they can't.

between 3 and 5 firefighters are reported missing as well. according to reports the blast could be felt as far as 70 miles an hour and retchinging 2.12 magnitud magnitude. a number of buildings have been damaged or complete destroyed, including a nearby nursing home, apartment complex and dozens of private homes. take a look at this video that tells the story that tells you why they cannot figure out a death toll at this point. the head of emergency response said some buildings are simply gone. initially there was heavy caution over toxic fumes but now officials say it is not, at least for the moment, a concern. it is also being considered, at this point because they just don't know, a crime scene. welcome back to "morning joe." a lot going on morning. we have been talking heated by will the manchin and toomey amendment on background checks which failed yesterday in the senate. very emotional reaction

including a clearly frustrated president obama. we will show that to you coming up. as a public service we will scroll the names of the senators, including democrats, who voted no on the issue. an issue supported by 90% of the americans. senator manchin, a really hero in all this, will be joining us in just a moment. sam stein is still with us in washington. joining on the set is editor and chief of "the daily beast" tina brown and host of politics nation and president of the national action network reverend al sharpton. in washington the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. we will talk about guns in a moment. the big political issue of the day. updates now out of west, texas, because the weather is causing concern as they try to figure out if they can find survivors in all of this. bill karins has a closer look there. >> we have heard all morning they are waiting for first light to help getting around town and

rescuing people and going through the buildings. so dangerous and no power. first light is coming now but, at the same time, severe thunderstorms are rolling through so they have an hour or two before the storms are gone. let me get you familiar with the town of west, texas. on i-35 north of waco and south of dallas. it's small. quintessential small midwest town. here is the town itself. this is the northern portion of the town where most of the destruction was done. right-hand side of the screen is where the fertilizer plant was and where the initial fire was. the tanks are on the northern end of this facility. let me show you shall things in town are. the middle school literally located across the street from the fertilizer plant was empty at the time they are reporting thankfully because the blast happened around 6:00 yesterday evening. also a nursing home they were trying to evacuate at the time of the explosion that is literally only two blocks away from the fertilizer plant. so if the blast happened to the

north here, obviously, the blast radius goes out from the center here. they are saying most of the northern half of the town is where most of the destruction is and a lot of homes up here on the north are what don't exist any more and have been leveled and where much of the search has been located this morning. overnight major concerns about toxic gases in the air and now we are hear the air is deemed safe for the first responders on the ground. the winds are howling right now and the front and the rain is coming through. you can see the radar behind me. as far as we're concerned and all of our viewers that want to see the pictures and images of the destruction and devastation the helicopters aren't flying so it will be a while before we get pictures of how bad this is. >> we will be following the investigation in boston as they work to find the culprits in the double bombing at the finish line of the boston marathon. they are making some headway

there so we will update you on that. first, on capitol hill, less than 55% of the senate was willing to back a proposal that polls show was supported by roughly 90% of the public. for president obama and family members of those killed in sandy hook, tucson, and all over the country, it was hard to believe that lawmakers rejected expanded background checks for gun sales. >> this was a pretty shameful day for washington. but this effort is not over. i want to make it clear to the american people, we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence, so long as the american people don't give up on them. action by congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand. if it could have prevented those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future

while preserving our second amendment rights, we had an obligation to try! and this legislation met that test. and too many senators failed theirs. >> so democrats who failed the test senator max baucus and senator mark begich and heidi heitkamp and mark pryor. democrats who are so quick to blame republicans for our broken gun laws could not stand united and republicans who are so quick to blame democrats for not being tough enough on crime, handed criminals a huge victory by preserving their ability to buy guns legally at gun shows and online and keeping the gun traffic market well-fed. the nra weighed in in writing saying this. this amendment could have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens requiring lifelong friends and neighbors

and family members to get federal government permission to exercise a right or face prosecution. as we noted previously expanding background checks at gun shows will not reduce violent crime or keep kids safe in their schools. joe, i'll let you take it away. alex, just keep putting the names up is what i think we should do. >> mika, this nra -- first of all, mark halpern told me last hour he didn't believe this was the same chris cox i served with in the nra so if that is it, apologies to chris cox from california. regardless who made that statement for the nra or chris cox who made the statement for the nra, we will have it mentioned in a minute, just lied. we are not talking about whether this is a violation of the second amendment. it's not. it's not. but if you're ignorant, if you you've never read a united

states supreme court ruling before regarding the second amendment, then maybe you could come to that conclusion just out of sheer ignorance. but what is a lie is part of the statement where he says that the nra is claiming that the manchin/toomey bill would have stopped transfers from individuals in between family members. it's a lie and they know it's a lie, and every person you see up on this screen enabled the nra to continue spreading their lies across america on background checks. >> yeah. >> we are not talking about banning handguns. we are not talking banning semiautomatic weapons. we are not even talking about banning what some people call assault weapons. we are not talking about banning high capacity magazines. the vote yesterday, we were only talking about having background checks to stop gang members, to

stop al qaeda members, to stop violent criminals from being able to get weapons online or at gun shows without us, the american people, being able to be assured first that they weren't terrorists. >> yeah. >> or gang members. or rapists. or convicted felons. it is such a simple concept that 90%, such a common sense concept, that 90% of you agreed with me. that this is something that needed to be done. it's such a simple concept that 8 out of 10 gun owners across america believed that background checks made sense. that it made sense. gun owners would say to me, time and time again, hey, you know what? i play by the laws. i play by the rules.

and if i'm playing by the rules, then everybody should have to play by the rules. gun shop owners still can't figure out why they have to check to make sure somebody is not a terrorist or a gang member or a criminal. but gun show don't have to do it and people on the internet don't have to do it. this system is so broken. and every name up there that you're seeing that voted no, they have no excuse. they have no good excuse. they come up with these lame feeble excuses because they are cowarding in the corner and they are afraid of the nra their only two excuses is, one, well, you know, this may lead to a national begun registry. that's a lie because joe manchin specifically put in a piece of the bill that if any of these names were held and any registry were started, the person doing it would be is sent to jail for 15 years. it would be a felony.

they would throw them in jail and throw away the key. so that's a lie. so when you hear that in the future, just know whoever is telling you that is somebody that you just can't trust. >> right. >> and the second thing you're going to hear is, well, i had to vote against it because that would stop you from handing your gun to your son. that's a lie too. the nra is spreading that lie. they were spreading it yesterday. they will spread it tomorrow. they are an organization this morning built on lies. they are lying to it their own people. they are lying to gun owners. they are lying to americans and guess what? the american people are smart enough, mika, to figure it out in the end and the nra is going to be figured out. they made a horrible mistake yesterday and they are going pay politically for it. they are going to pay. let's go right now to joe manchin. joe, you fought the good fight.

a lot of lies out there. a lot of cowards out there. let's start first with the statement the nra put out yesterday where they claim that if somebody voted for your bill, they were trying to stop the transfer of guns from friends to friends. is that true or is that a lie? >> joe, it's not true and you know it's not true. you know this was a bill that was crafted by many people. it was a balanced bill. people were saying that was president obama's bill and you might not like him. this is not president obama's bill. chuck schumer's bill. it wasn't his bill. chuck schumer and president obama at the white house were moving off their position to find common ground. if we could have had other people to move off their position to find common ground. this was a balanced bill that had anybody's input so if they want to blame somebody, blame me. blame me. i try to bring people together to find a common balance because i wanted to protect the second

amendment rights and protect a law abiding gun owner like myself. joe, we did that in this. for the nra to say, i know them over there. for the leadership to say this, then what you're saying is trying to stretch that if i sold a gun on the internet to my cousin, then i make a family member. if you got to sell a gun on the internet to your cousin you better check your family relationship. you follow me, joe? that's where we are, buddy, that's where we are. >> it's so stupid. >> it is. >> let me ask you this, joe. what are the chances here? because i think this is going to pass. >> don't you give up. don't you give up. and here is the thing. i know -- i mean, i know your competitive spirit and i know where your mind is right now. and you're going for the juggler now. i know that. these are good people. i've got to sit don ae and i go

to work with my colleagues. heidi heitkamp is my friend. i'm tickled to death she is there. i got to get heidi comfortable so the people in north dakota now how good she is and make her feel comfortable we can represent the people. i can't put a hole and leave a hole in a gun show. i'm not going to allow a criminal or an al qaeda terrorist to be able to go to the gun show like he advertised to pick up guns but if there is some language that is uncomfortable i have to work harder to make them comfortable. joe, if the nra didn't score this, would would have had 15 more votes. if the nra just disagrees saying we tried this before and government, you know, government is overreaching. certain areas i can agree with all of those statements but we had a good piece of legislation that would have saved lives. it will save lives. all i'm saying you can agree to disagree and say this is something we wouldn't vote for

but we will not let our members choose but when you have to distort the truth, when you have to misrepresent, when you have to really down right say things that aren't in the bill and scare people, that's not the organization that i have known. it's not the organization i have worked with to put the program together in west virginia to teach young people to respect and be safe with firearms. we got to get back, joe, to some kind of a balance here. you can't have the extremes. the right and the left, the far right and far left is not going to govern and cannot. you can't have the tail pwaggin the dog. >> what hero. >> joe, i tell you what, you go and you be nice to the people. let down the american people yesterday and made it easier for terrorists to get guns and try to convince them that they need to be on your side and i'm sure they will. but i'll tell you this. i'm going to come at it from a different vantage point.

>> i know you are. >> we need 60 votes. we need to get guns out of the hands of al qaeda members and i think we can get it. >> well, you think about senator -- joe, think about those who voted no on this and you think about that al qaeda tape that talks about how you can get a gun in america is the best place to go, thank you very much, republicans. thank you so much senator max baucus and thank you very much senator mark begich and thank you heidi heitkamp and mark for siding for that videotape. i know you liked it when we showed it on the air, senator manchin, because it really brought home the point. >> i used it on the floor in my speech because i thought it was just so powerful and i aappreciate you all bringing it. it was powerful. let me just say we are going to win this. this is good. this piece of legislation is a balanced piece of legislation that basically protects and

keeps people safe. i've said this on the floor. if you want to help veterans be treated with the respect, this bill cleared that up and we give veterans a chance to transition back into a normal life. then this is a good bill. if you want to keep terrorists and you want to keep criminals and you want to keep people mentally adjudicated from being able to walk down to a gun show and buy whatever they want, you're going to like this bill and keep them off the internet. you're going to like this bill. >> yes. senator joe manchin, thank you so much. i know. i know. >> don't give up. don't give up. we are going to pass. don't give it. >> sounds like a football coach. >> but he is right. >> he is right. >> he is right. >> he is right. this is going to pass. it is inevitable. this background checks for al qaeda members, background checks for violent offenders, it will pass. thank you, joe manchin. we greatly appreciate it. >> joining us from capitol hill republican senator from arizona,

senator john mccain. senator, you and i don't always agree on everything. but i could hug you this morning. and democratic senator from new york. >> i wish i was there. >> and democrat senator from new york, chuck shumchumer. >> where is my hug? >> you always get one from me. i'm serious. senator mccain what made you decide to vote yes? >> well, i just thought that the bill was appropriate, that t the -- i've always been opposed to to the gun show loophole so i thought it was the right thing to do. >> can i ask you, senator mccain? this vote is probably going to come up again. joe manchin will be working democrats. you certainly have a lot of influence over kelly ayotte in new hampshire. would you encourage her if she could be the deciding vote to support background checks?

>> i've never done that in the years i've been here. i talk to kelly. i talk to many of my other colleagues, but it's up to them. they are grown people and they make their own decisions. i've never been one who has gone out and told people what i think they ought to do. i've made my case and let them make up their own minds. >> let's make a turn now to another, if you can believe it, big story that we're following here which is an attempt at a bipartisan immigration plan. senator schumer, if you can give us a sense where we stand there first. >> today the eight of us will officially kick off the campaign for our bill. we will have people from every different segment of the american society standing with us. we will have business and labor. we will have the religious community from the liberals to the evangelicals. we will have some very conservative people like grover

norquist ahead of the american liberal community and the head of c.a.p. this bill has a good chance because of the leadership of senator mccain and many others. we have all met in the middle. you know, i know you're dispirited about washington and so am i. >> very. >> i was with gun control for 20 years and the author of the brady bill we need background checks improved on in 1994. but this is an example of washington working. if you would have watched the eight of us in those lengthy long and sometimes contentious meetings in the room. from marco rubio to dick durbin that we had to meet in the middle to get a bill done, it would restore a little bit of your father and now our voyage begins. >> senator mccain? >> well, i'm very pleased at the opportunity to work with chuck

schumer and senator menendez and marco rubio and lindsey graham and jeff flake, they have done a great job. i think we have the outline of the proposal that can succeed. i think it's balanced. we have border security as a very important factor, but we also make it possible to have the border secured. it's not an insurmountable object but, most of all it takes them out of the shadows and gives them a chance to live in a free and open society and with a long and difficult path to citizenship but at least it brings them out of the shadows and make them able to become the kind of wonderful citizens that i know that the overwhelming majority of them will be. and i'm proud of the work we have done and it's been frankly for not the first time, the pleasure of working with chuck schumer who is a tough guy. >> he's from brooklyn. >> senator mccain you tried this in 2006 and 2007 and george w.

bush was on your side and ted kennedy and that ended disastrously. what has made the difference in 2013? >> i think two things, joe. one, from the practical side. that is, obviously, the polarization of the hispanic vote. fewer and fewer support republicans and we know what the demographics are. that's on the practical side. most importantly, and far more importantly, the american public opinion has changed. if you tell my constituents in arizona that people who are here illegal, in order to become citizens, have a path to citizenship would have to pay back taxes and pay fines, learn english, and get in the become of the line behind those who are come here legally, the majority of our american citizens want that as a way to be the nation that we are. a judo christian principle nation that reaches out and

helps those who need the kind of help these people need. they did break our laws by coming here illegal but the fact is now it's time to give them a leg legal status and a tough opportunity but an opportunity to become citizens of this country. >> senators john mccain and chuck schumer, thank you very much, gentlemen. we look forward to seeing you again. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we will bring our round table next with reverend sharpton and tina brown and mark halpern and david gregory. stay with us. tomorrow's show rahm emmanuel will be with us. and coming up is former attorney general jon ashcroft on the boston terror attacks. with the spark miles card from capital one,

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reasoning. live look at the white

house. washington, d.c. another morning. pretty bad morning here on the set of "morning joe." across the country quite frankly. let's get reaction what we have heard in the last block on the round table. reverend al sharpton and tina brown and sam stein and mark halpern and david gregory. i'll try to see the other side of the story so help me out here, david. what is the logic of voting now and let's show the name of all those who voted no as you speak. david? >> i've talked to, mika, republicans on this who have tried to make the case for concerns about implementation of a background check but i think the bottom line here is what we have been talking about and it's pure politics. you know, it's not just the nra but it is indirectly the nra's impact on folks in their home states. republicans were telling me yesterday, look. you should hear the people in my state who didn't want me to vote for it and want the debate to

move forward. these are folks who will absolutely vote for this issue in an election. one republican senator said to me i know this is a 90% issue in the public but will those 90% definitely vote on this issue? this person said we will see. we don't know that for sure. i i think it's striking that the nra's public position on all of this was to say, look. if we can do something to prevent the next newtown, we ought to at least try. that's what wayne lapierre said after the newtown tragedy. and his idea was for school safety, for armed guards. indeed, a lot of state legislators have taken that up but when it came to extending what the nra was for in the past background checks, they said, no, no. this gets us down a slippery slope and we are able to have the same impact that they have always had. >> reverend al sharpton, how do i say this as we look at these

names and faces? is washington really filled with so many cowards? so many selfish, short-sided politicians who really don't care about leading and only care about winning? how is that? >> i think that is probably about hitting it on the head. they are political cowards. you are talking about people that in the face of newtown, in the face of over 500 deaths of gun violence in chicago, said let's do nothing. you know, mika, i work on the ground with a network. probably not a day someone doesn't come in one of our offices around the country victimized by gun violence or having lost a loved one. what do we tell young people now guns are wrong and don't glorify thug life? what do we tell them you have to have an i.d. to get a beer when you look young but not an i.d. to buy a gun? have courage that members that

the 44 members of instant didn't have? this is a disgraceful act. i think joem manchin and pat toomey should be given credit. there will be a price to pay. >> tina brown, my husband is an investigative reporting and covering this issue for years. he leaves one day and goes undercover and comes home with five semiautomatic weapons, lines them up in our house and take pictures to show how's it is to get guns. unbelievable they won't make this process a little harder for people. >> it is really incredible w. when you think about the woman who ran towards jared lee loughner and threw herself on him after he killed six people and wounded gabby giffords and she has the courage to do something like that but this

body of cowardly worms don't have the courage to vote against their own self-interest. senator manchin said he is going to sit down with heidi heitkamp. no amount of sweet reason will convince heidi. you have to drive her out with money and hope mike bloomberg can do that with his donations. >> david? >> i think there a little bit more to it than that. because i think that, you know, it's not just money driving out money. i think there has to be thought -- first of all, how sustained will the fight be and that is a question. the president promised to keep going and manchin promised to keep going. i think is there a real possibility that could happen. but i also think how some of these fights get framed is important as well. if public opinion is moving on the idea of additional gun restrictions it seems to me the argument have to be recalibrated as well. why is it that mental health which really does resonate as a problem in these shootings, why

was that not made more public and out in front in this debate when it's a critical part of any kind of remedy? the idea that everybody has a role here, why was there so much emphasis on an assault weapons ban and a magazine ban efforts that were tried before and succeeded before but barely and when democrats controlled the house. so i think that is something that needs to be looked at tactically if you want to harness how public opinion will be moving. >> i think we are missing the big picture here. our political system jolts only for massive events and a couple of stats bring that to mind. in 2011, there were 17 u.s. citizens killed in ter rorist attacks. 31,000 plus killed by gun violence. these are happening right now around us. we tend to react viscerally to the terrorist attacks even though they cause the east

amount of deaths. we don't have a system geared toward dealing with the problem that is there every day and this that is workplace and gun-related tragedies. >> our thanks to david gregory and tina brown and al sharpton. coming up next, the latest on the town of west, texas. a massive explosion of a fertilizer plant has left multiple dead and many more injured. more m"morning joe" when we com back. [ male announcer ] when you take shortcuts,

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are searching for survivors after a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant that rocked a small town of west, texas, last night. three-point 160 injured in the blast. officials have confirmed there are fatalities from 5 to 15 but they just don't know. between 3 and 5 firefighters also reported missing. according to reports, the blast could be felt as far as 70 miles away registering 8.21 magnitude by the usgs. a number of buildings damaged or destroyed including a nearby nursing home, apartment complex, and dozens of private homes. we will stay on top of this story as it develops this morning. it's still a rescue effort. up next, charp of the faith and freedom coalition, ralph reed will join us and luke

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♪ here with us now as we cover so many breaking stories today. we also have issues that need to be covered as well. chairman of the faith and freedom coalition ralph reed. great to have you back. >> thanks. >> msnbc capitol hill correspondent luke russert and writer for bloomberg business week elizabeth dwoskin whose latest article is entitled immigration reform may make your job search more tougher. nice. luke, what is the latest on the bipartisan plan and take it to the panel. >> it looks like it's moving forward and marco rubio went out last month and introduced the plan to the country and we have seen what it looks like and i've

been watching the show. about guns. these two issues are intertwined. a lot of americans get nervous with these issues. a lot of the reasons why you're seeing these votes on guns yesterday is because republicans understand they have to walk a plank on immigration and they are going to save their powder for that vote as opposed to gun control because immigration might get them new voters as opposed to gun control which is anger shortstop a central part of their coalition. >> by the way, woo yis it going to make our job search tougher? >> if you're a college graduate, if you're in graduate school, there is no question that a couple of years from now, immigration reform, if it passes, it will make your job search tougher. no matter how you slice it we are adding four to five times visas if this bill passes and more checks companies never had to deal with on how to hire

those immigrants. now they have to prove to the government they tried to hire an american before which they didn't have to do before, they just had to promise. no matter what if you're on a job search a few years from now it's going to be tougher. >> your take on the bipartisan plan and where the country should go. >> this bill is not perfect. there are some things in there we want to tweak and things we want to improve but we have argued when we relieved our immigration principles on february 5th that immigration reform should be pro family, it should be pro the rule of law and it should secure the border and protect u.s. softvereignty. today we have over a million children and spouses of people who are here legally. these are people who played by the rules. they have a green card. they have a child or a husband or a wife who is waiting in a line, depending upon the country, that could be 10 to 16 years long. i had an employee who was a

political refugee from romania. she fled romania and a 10-year-old son she was trying to get into the country and told by dhs it was going to be a six to seven-year wait. that's a childhood. so questionable that that needs to be fixed. this bill does that. it continues family priority but ends moigration. we don't think anybody who hasn't gotten a green card legally should go to the back of the line. if somebody has to go to a criminal background checks and pay a fine and pay back taxes and go to the back of the line, 76% of republicans support them being able to get a green card. >> right. >> we are adding potentially millions of people to this line and the biggest question is, though, how will we clear that backlog? how are we going to unassure

these people aren't waiting 16 years? because if you wait 16 years you will come legally. >> i have to cut the segment short because we are going to go back to guns. thank you all very much. >> thank you. before we go to break i want to put up the names of the senators who vote no on the background checks, just put them up, because these are the people that i think disspirited some of us here the most in what is wrong with washington. this is not about president obama. health care, taxes, deficit. we can talk about his leadership. the president can only run this country when he is dealing with leaders. we know these are not leaders now. they are cowards and selfishness and they have lack of leadership that that put us in this position now where they voted against something that 90% of the country supports, first of all. they voted against something

that is right for our country and right for our society. and might make our society just a little bit safer. but they voted no. because they are cowards. and they put themselves in a category that, quite frankly, and i hate to see this, but put the themselves in a category that helps people like this, al qaeda terrorists. take a look. >> in the west, you've got a lot at your disposal. let's take america as an example. america is absolutely a wash with easily obtainable firearms. can you go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and, most likely without having to show an identification card. so what are you waiting for?

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>> live below the line so that others can rise above it. a five-day challenge of living under $1.50 a day supporting the world's most vulnerable people to rise up. are you in? >> that was hugh jackman in an ad for the global poverty project live below the line campaign. here with us now, ceo and co-founder of the global poverty

project, hugh evans. i would like to hear about something good that someone is doing. it's good to have you here. let's take a break from all of this bad, bad horrible news. a deep breath from the losers in washington. the cowards. i mean complete fools. seriously. help me out here. >> we all think there's no way we could live off a buck 50 a day. it makes you think i would buy a bunch of crackers so it shows you that you can eat well. >> nuts. >> so is that sort of the point that you obviously know you can't do it so you learn that lesson. for me it goes back to food. you can't eat physical. there's malnutrition and there's this cycle. take us through the number and everything related to the food. >> a couple years ago one of our friends in melvin, australia,

was grappling with how can you live on $1.50 a day which is extreme poverty level in the developing world. he challenged himself to do it through a month. through the experience he empathized more and more with the world's poorest people. we decided to make this a global challenge called live below the line to challenge people to live under $1.50 a day. it's kind of like running a marathon for global poverty. every day you do it you get people to sponsor you and money you raise goes to support incredible organizations like the world food program who are on the cutting edge to end extreme poverty in this world. >> one thing about these programs that always strike me, they're good at terms in raising awareness and showing people how difficult it is to live on 1.50 a day. they challenge politicians to live on food stamps for a week and it's hard for them to be

able to accomplish that. you raise awareness on this issue. what do you think we in the united states could donate that would translate into action. do we want to teach these individuals who live in extreme poverty better techniques in terms of harvesting things like rice and grain. what is the best type of thing to promote action? >> there's five interventions that will have the biggest impact for the world's poor. you talk about food and agriculture which you touched on. education particularly for women. we're also looking at health and sanitation, water and sanitation and also job creation. these are the sorts of interventions that will have the biggest impact for the world's poor and organizations involved in live below the line campaign addressing those interventions. so opportunity international is at the forefront of providing loans for women in the developing world which is a critical part of poverty

alleviation. over 15,000 people did it last year and it raised 3 million for the world's poor. this is making a real impact. >> needed that. thank you, hugh. >> thank you. >> hugh evans. for more information about the global poverty project's campaign, visit livebelowtheline.com. thank you for your contribution to society. thank you so much. still ahead, we're following huge stories this morning. the latest on the boston marathon terror attacks. some headway in the investigation. pete williams has new details coming up in just a few minutes. plus, the search for survivors continues in texas where a factory explosion has killed as many as 15 people. an update on that story next when "morning joe" comes right back. at tyco integrated security, we consider ourselves business optimizers.

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live look at new york city. the sun is up. a lot of stories to cover this morning. good morning. it's thursday, april 18th. 8:00 a.m. on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. we have a lot going on including new details on the boston terror attack. following lots of confusion yesterday with some media outlets incorrectly reporting an arrest had been made. we're going to have nbc's pete williams who always has his facts right with us latest.

and full reaction to the disappointing example of cowardice in washington with more halperin, howard dean, mike barnicle and sam stein. this morning rescue workers are searching for survivors after a massive explosion last night at a fertilizer plant rocking the small town of west, texas. the blast was caught on camera by a father with his children. >> it should collapse. >> are you serious? >> i really honestly thought we were gone. if you have seen the video first thing i asked her is if she's okay. i was on top of her. i got blasted over on top of her.

i thought we were gone. >> at least 160 people were injured in the blast but they are still counting. officials have confirmed there have been fatalities but they really don't know how many. from 5 to 15 maybe more. they have to do a rescue effort and recovery effort in some of the homes and buildings that have been destroyed. between three and five firefighters are reported missing. according to reports from the scene the blast could be felt as far as 70 miles away registering 2.1 magnitude by usgs. the state's resources have been mobilized to assist local authorities. a number of buildings have been damaged or completely destroyed including a nearby nursing home, an apartment complex and dozens of private homes. there was heavy caution about toxic fumes but it's not at least for the moment a concern. the president has been notified. the white house and fema are monitoring the situation this

morning. it is being considered a crime scene just because they don't know how this happened. let's bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins with a closer look at the town where this happened and how the weather is impacting in a big way the situation there. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. we hope to have helicopter aerials of the devastation in the small texas town by now but it's raining hard. not safe for helicopters to fly just yet. we'll bring those as soon as we get them on msnbc. let me familiarize you with this small texas town. the town is four blocks wide. this is northern half of town where the worst of the explosion was. this is the fertilizer plant here on the right of your screen. notice it's just open farm fields to the east of that plant. to the west of it and to the north is residential section and populated areas. one good thing if there is anything good that happened out of this, it happened at 7:30, 8:00 local time.

the middle school located across the street was pretty much empty at the time we are hearing. that's not the case for the nursing home which is located just to the north of that. you can see it's a very large structure there considering the small size of the town. as far as the devastation going from the blast radius, we hear that the northern portion of the town and blocks to the north of it are homes that may not exist anymore and we'll have you those pictures once we get those air yaair airials. there was no power overnight. now the front has gone through and now the winds are going to shift direction. once we get the rain out of there, then we'll have good daylight and we'll have clearing skies this afternoon. i'm sure there are still rescues ongoing as we speak in that area. we'll have those aerials for you as soon as we get those in. the plant was located just in the northern section of town near a very populated area even for this small town. back to you, mika.

>> we have another big story that we need to cover this morning on capitol hill. less than 55% of the senate was willing to back a proposal that polls show is supported by roughly 90% of the public. the push for expanded background checks for gun purchases was defeated yesterday in a stinging loss for president obama and for the country. and also for the victims of violence who had lobbied congress to reform the nation's laws. >> tunder the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. there will be order in the senate. >> in the end four democrats voted against the toomey-manchin bill that would have covered gun sales at gun shows and on the

internet. harry reid also voted no so he could bring the bill for the floor another time. four republicans broke party ranks to support the measure. there they are. for president obama and family members of those killed in sandy hook, tucson and all over the country, the vote was incomprehensible. >> action by congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand, if it could have prevented those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future while preserving our second amendment rights, we had an obligation to try. and this legislation met that test. and too many senators failed theirs. this was a pretty shameful day for washington. this effort is not over. i want to make it clear to the

american people, we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence so long as the american people don't give up on it. >> in a statement, mayor mike bloomberg's group said democrats who are so quick to blame republicans for our broken gun laws could not stand united. and republicans who are so quick to blame democrats for not being tough enough on crime handed criminals a huge victory by preserving their ability to buy guns illegally at gun shows and online and keeping the illegal trafficking market well fed. the nra also weighed in in writing. this amendment would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens requiring life-long friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution. as we have noted previously expanding background checks at gun shows or elsewhere will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools.

by the way, a new "the washington post"/abc poll shows 86% support a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows or online. as we toss it to you, joe, to take it to the panel on the front page of "the new york times" kind of says it all. joe biden with his head in his hands. take it away. >> the nra unfortunately to the very end from the morning we found out that 20 children were slaughtered and six educators were slaughtered at sandy hook until last night, the nra acted shamefully putting out violent video games that 4-year-old kids could play with guns. making horrific statements. the nra is absolutely behaved shamelessly and they will of course pay a cost for this. they'll pay it over time. maybe not this year. maybe not next.

they will pay a cost because this battle, mika, is not over. in fact, i've got bad news for the senators that were cowering and running away from reporters when asked how they will vote on this bill, i make a guarantee, this fight has just begun. 90% of us. we are 90% who believe that we should do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. we should do everything that we can to keep guns out of the hands of violent rapists. we should do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of gang members. this is very simple. we're just asking for a background check to make sure that the terrorists that are playing tapes and sending them around the world and saying buy guns in america because their background check system is broken. we want to make sure they can't

do that. we want to frustrate terrorists. we want to frustrate gang members. we want to frustrate criminals. 90%, mika, will not be ignored. i look at this list and i look at these people that voted no. let's be very clear this morning. they didn't vote the way they wanted to vote. they voted the way the nra wanted them to vote because everyone that voted yesterday knows in their heart of hearts after reading this bill that the bill would have made america safer. the bill would have made their state safer from terrorists, from criminals, from gang members. it would have made their communities safer. it would have made their neighborhood streets safer. this bill, the president said this bill would have only saved -- this bill would have saved many, many lives.

the american people were insulted yesterday. and i'll tell you what, i'm sick and tired of people on capitol hill that i've known for a long time that i've respected, i'm sick and tired of them insulting my intelligence. acting like i'm stupid enough and you're stupid enough and 90% of americans are stupid enough to believe that this bill would lead to a national registry. i hear it all the time. the bill itself puts people in jail for up to 15 years. if they keep these names and start a national registry. it's offensive. it's stupid. and you know what? in the long run, all of those people that voted for a more dangerous america are going to pay at the polls. mark my words. this is going to come up and

it's going to hit them in the face. >> i'm going to be taking a look at each and everybody who voted no. we'll put them up on the screen throughout the show. also, also just to add to your point which was so beautifully put, this sums up how broken d.c. is. this is the one area where this should have passed and then the next thing should have been really tough new mental health laws, regulations, programs that help make the background checks work and instead we languish in national stupidity over an issue that should be black and white. we're not taking guns away. cars need licenses and insurance and regulations. things that are dangerous need to be monitored or controlled in our society so they don't get in the hands of criminals. why is this so hard, howard? why? >> i was going to put an optimistic spin on this. i think we ought to give pat toomey and joe manchin an

enormous amount of credit. they come from very conservative states. pat's constituency is very conservative. one of the conservative people in the senate. joe manchin, west virginia, a pro-gun state. they stood up and did the right thing. marks halperin, bring us into the mindset of someone that voted no here. what was the logic? what was the process of thinking before making that vote? >> this is a complicated issue. yesterday was an emotional day. i don't want to impugn people's motives. >> mark, can i ask, how is this a complicated issue? >> i really want to know. you said it was a complicated issue. as you know, you can go back for six years, i don't impugn people's character for how they vote. i don't judge liberals. i don't judge very conservative people. i know people come from different parts of the country. i also talks about the need to

compromise and come together. how is this a complicated vote? >> here's why -- >> it doesn't infringe on anybody's second amendment right and everybody knows that. >> this is why i think it's complicated. in my career i don't remember a situation like this where public opinion was so obviously in one direction and there was public focus on it. white house focus on it. and whatever is in the minds of the republicans and the democrats who voted against it, it makes this complicated and like i said, i don't remember an issue like this. >> i don't either. it is complicated because the answer is so simple. it's complicated trying to figure out why in the hell people would actually provide the opportunity for people to

continue to purchase guns without a background check. that's simple if you are interested in keeping america safe instead of keeping your own political seat safe. >> this was supposed to be the minimum that they were going to get on gun control. this was 90% issue. 90/10 issue. talking about assault weapons ban limiting the size of magazine clips whittled down and now the coupresident doesn't ge that. the most powerful man in the world running this, backed by newtown families and gabby giffords and power and emotion put together, a lot of law enforcement, if you couldn't get

over the finish line in the wake of the most horrific gun violence that any of us can remember, you wonder what the future of gun control is in this country. coming up, pete williams has new details on the bombing in boston. former attorney general john ashcroft with his unique perc t perspective on the investigation. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. oh, he's a fighter alright. since aflac is helping with his expenses while he can't work, he can focus on his recovery. he doesn't have to worry so much about his mortgage, groceries, or even gas bills. kick! kick... feel it! feel it! feel it! nice work! ♪ you got it! you got it! yes! aflac's gonna help take care of his expenses. and us...we're gonna get him back in fighting shape. ♪

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welcome back to "morning

joe." mark halperin here at the table. sam stein is in washington. with us now from washington also, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams with the latest on the boston marathon bombing investigation. pete, what are you hearing? >> it's a very fast moving investigation. they are now looking for two men and this is based on the pictures that they've been able to analyze partly a result of the bonanza of pictures that people have turned in in answer to the fbi's request for pictures and partly from what they are getting from surveillance cameras in the area. the beginning of this was a surveillance camera mounted on a department store across the street and down the block a bit from the second bomb attack. that's the picture you're seeing right now is that second scene. the bomb was placed out near the end of the sidewalk there. and in these pictures they see one young man who has a heavy backpack who sets it down just before the bomb goes off and then dashes away.

he's also seen talking on a cell phone. they have two avenues of inquiry here. one is pictures themselves and they have clear pictures of his face and second is the fact he's talking on a cell phone. that allows them to look at cell phone records. they know precisely the time the bomb went off. they can check towers nearby and sort through hundreds of people on the phones at that time and there's another way they can try to get at it. they have pictures showing him talking to another young man so their goal right now is to identify these two people. they don't know who they are. they want to get their names. find out where they may be and talk to them and find out what was going on there. >> mike barnicle in boston. >> pete, i'm curious as to why the release of these pictures. why did the authorities release these pictures? was it to help us recognize them or what was the deal there?

>> they haven't released them yet, mike. there have been some pictures out there that we've been unable to verify. a couple officials tried to wave us off of them. as to the question as to why they haven't formally arelearel pictures, they've been debating this since yesterday. agents in the boston area where you are say let's not do that yet. it will add another level of difficulty for us. let's see how we're doing in finding them on their own. i would guess before the next several hours are over, we probably will get a release of these pictures. it seems to be heading that way. i will say this, mike. they have been showing these pictures to law enforcement officials, airports, train stations, subway stations saying be on the lookout for these guys. >> all right. pete williams, thanks. mike, we now have joining us from springfield, missouri, former attorney general john ashcroft. sir, thanks very much for being

on the show this morning from your perspective with your experience and your background on all of this, what are we looking for at this point and what concerns you that still remains a mystery? >> well, the first priority here has to be public safety and to guard against any future attacks or follow-on attacks. unfortunately all of us are aware that we're in a critical period of time right now. this week has been not only this week but historically a very difficult time including oak bomb and with the fertilizer explosion last night that we don't know all of the facts about and with the boston situation this is a time when i think we shouldn't rush to any conclusions about whether any events are related or they're not related. and public safety and prevention of additional events ought to be at the top of our understanding.

obviously it should also inform the way we handle the investigation. it may be that information is not forthcoming from the law enforcement individuals with their feet on the street because to disclose information might tip-off individuals who are related to or who were involved with those who perpetrated the offenses. we just don't know that. so while we should be full speed ahead on the investigation, there ought to be an element of caution and that element of caution should be guided by the idea of preventing further attacks and public safety involved here. >> general ashcroft, mark here. how would you evaluate the job that officials have done in providing the public with information? >> i think they've done a great

job. the problem i have is not with the individuals who have made public statements. i think they have handled this in exactly the right way. i don't have any advice to offer except to those who have leaked information. and what is stunning about what's happened so far is that some of the leaks appear to have been erroneous and when the news industry publishes some erroneous information which was said to have been leaked although it's labeled as a source and not a leaker when it happens, this really complicates things and one of the nuances is public trust is undermined and the public is a big part of dislocation and prevention of terrorists attacks. if the public gets to the place where it doesn't trust what it's hearing or the fact that what is

announced can't be -- is not reliable, then that impairs our ability to ask the public and to reap the benefit of the public participating in helping solve these problems. so i believe that the people on the street who are doing the hard work are getting the job done as quickly as possible and dealing with mountains of evidence. the number of photographs and number of cell phones and number of individuals who in some way have something that they might be able to add here is pretty substantial. >> can you imagine, sam stein, how many cameras and cell phone videos and iphones and whatever else were rolling at the finish line of the boston marathon? it would take days and days and days just to organize it all let alone link it together. it's amazing what they're doing. >> that's actually sort of what i want to ask the attorney general about, which is, one, is there such a thing as too much information in which you have an overload of data coming in that

becomes almost impossible to pore through all of that stuff and one of the issues that a lot of viewers are having of this crisis is why haven't we had more answers sooner. i'm wondering from your vantage point you've been involved with this stuff, what is timing like for you? are we expecting results too quickly? should we be more tempered with our expectations here? >> i think we should be -- i think our expectation should be there's a professional job done and that if it takes a long time we should be patient. it's very understandable that we all want to know immediately but when you have the kind of mountain of evidence that is coming in, you probably involve yourself in what i would call evidentiary triage. you take what is likely to be the most productive evidence first. you sort it. you go through all of it. you keep going through it until you find the things that not only tell you where to go and

provide the leads but you also then look for krcorroborating evidence. it can take time. we ought to be -- you'll never know when something comes to break the case quickly. you'll remember in the ok bomb situation which is a couple decades ago practically, a person leaving the scene, the perpetrator, with a license plate that alerted the police that he was driving on an expired plate. i think that was one of the things that helped apprehend mr. mcveigh. so there are things that appear to be the product of very scientific and organized inspection. there are other things that sometime happen to help you solve things and they just happen. >> attorney general ashcroft, luke russert here in new york.

a question for you. in the atlanta bombing eric robert rudolph it took ten years to apprehend him. after ten years it took time to get khalid shaikh mohammed. we live in this world where everything has to be fast. should the american people be expected to wait probably, possibly years before we find out who did this? can the american people wait that long in this era? >> well obviously i think in some respect television conditions us to expect immediate responses. we watch a mystery on tv and at the most an hour intwith ten commercials and everything is solved. people may be conditioned by what they see in fictional world but the real world has to be

accepted for what it is. what's acceptable in the national defense system and preventing further tragedies perpetrated on the american public is that we do things properly and we get to truth and justice. sometimes that takes a long time. in the atlanta bombing, which was a very serious event regarding the olympics, it took a long time and frankly when we finally apprehended the individual, there was a lot of fatigue in the system. i think the system outlasted the perpetrator in that situation and we got to a place of justice. >> all right. former attorney general john ashcroft, thank you very much for your insight this morning. >> delight to be with you. thank you very much. keep up the good work. >> thank you. up next, today's business headlines with cnbc's brian shactman. keep it here on "morning joe." i'm with clemmie, who is looking to save to help make ends meet.

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such a depressing list. i'm tweeting the names of everyone that voted down. it's taking a long time. business before the bell now. that's what i've been doing. with cnbc's brian shactman. new job numbers out this morning. >> jobless claims not bad. higher than expected.

it's well below 400,000. it's come down off that big number a couple weeks ago. we've been talking about the big news in the world whether it be boston or what happened in texas. it's been a crazy week in the markets. three straight days of triple digit moves. positive today. earnings from verizon and pepsi and morgan stanley. revenues are a challenge but companies are making tons and tons of money in terms of profit right now. i'll give your mobile update. apple fell below $400 a share yesterday. it was as high as 705 in the last year. they have lost more than 200 billion in market capitalization in just a little stretch. the key is people think that the bloom is off the rose and demand is not so great for this product anymore. >> brian shactman, thank you for everything today. stengel is st.

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welcome back to "morning joe." 39 past the hour. obviously we're following the investigation in boston. the situation in west, texas, and also the gun legislation that was voted down. i'm tweeting the names of everybody who voted no. i have never seen such an incredible reaction on twit ter

in my life. it's responses. it's retweets. it's followings. everyone wants to spread word out about who voted no. i tweeted each of their names one by one with hash tag lack of leadership. i had some other words in mind but alex said i should use lack of leadership. joining us now, "time" magazine managing editor rick stengel here with the latest issue of "time." bring us good news. this is a heavy day here. >> it is. a lot going on. and actually various people on the list are influencing what's going on. it's our annual "time" 100 issue of the 100 most -- >> are any of the people voted no on the list? >> now you put me on the spot. >> coburn voted no. >> obama actually wrote the profile of coburn in "time" 100 issue.

>> that's interesting. he might want to take that one back. >> too late now. >> maybe influential makes sense. influential doesn't necessarily mean in a good way. >> exactly right. exactly right. in fact the word actually comes from a mid evil term for what people thought was emanating from the stars that influenced people on earth. part of the idea of "time" 100 list is pairings of one famous person writing about another. obama wrote about tom coburn. hillary clinton wrote about obama. it's interesting that way. >> that's nice. >> how do you do that? that's what i want to know. you call up hillary and say i want you to write a nice blurb. >> there's nothing fancy about it. we think of the list. who should be on it. we think who would be the most interesting person to write about that person? so the egyptian jon stewart is

written by jon stewart. they want to do it. it's a happy thing in many cases because many of the people on the list are social entrepreneurs and people doing really good things and three women who have basically allowed newborns with aids to be cured. so they are getting a chance to write about people that are doing something that's valuable and important. >> tell us about the covers. >> so the covers. thank you, mark. there are actually seven different covers in all. if you turn. there's jay-z. this is so old fashioned. jennifer lawrence. elon musk. internationally a couple different ones. these covers will rotate. collect them all. >> they are like nesting dolls. >> they are like nesting dolls. >> you did this a couple years in a row where you had different

covers. >> we had different internal covers for person of the year but the main one, president obama was always at the top. on the newsstands these rotate. at the same newsstand you could have jay-z next to jennifer lawrence. >> that's incredible. that should be the cover. >> all of the pictures are by a great photographer who went and shot her in birmingham, innieng. took a day off from school. first formal portrait since the shooting. she's not just a symbol of educating young women. she's a symbol of resilience. what happened to her is what happens to so many people, what's happened to people in boston and her ability to recover. her ability to have her spirits be up and be confident and optimistic is really inspiring. >> okay. and who else is notable on list? >> who else is notable on the list? elon musk i'm a big fan of.

he's one of the founders of paypal. he now has this space-x and tesla. there's a lot of entrepreneurs on the list. founders of instagram. founders of kickstarter. there's a bias for people who are doing something new that change the way we live. joe joins us. jump in, joe. >> rand paul is on the list. why is that? >> rand paul and the item is written by sarah palin, joe. and she says that he's the new face of the republican party. i would argue that he's kind of reconciling the libertarian wing and conservative like no one has done before. he's the republican party it boy at the moment. next to you, joe. >> yeah. i think that this morning, rick, might not be the case.

so it's hard for you -- you explained that this is like a club. it's got to be hard for you. you do 100 people every year. getting the process and getting 100 people, how difficult that for you to whittle down. >> joe, you're a member of the club. it's not that hard. actually we try to build it up with people doing something new. the women aids doctors. the activists in china and india. to me this is a platform for those folks who are doing great and important work around the world to get a little bit of notoriety in addition to people you would expect to be on the list. it is a list that ranges from poets to statesmen to economists to artists and philosophers and so we try to be--

>> can i break in. mika broke twitter. >> give me examples of someone on the list that's doing great work across the globe and getting on this list has made a difference whether in their civic organization or ministry or efforts to ease suffering across the globe. >> over the years we had a particular emphasis on people, veterans, who are involved in veterans movements and wounded warriors. those guys have been on the list. it always helps people who have these small groups that are trying to do good to be able to say we were on the "time" 100 list. there are many, many examples of that. >> mika? >> joe is on the list. yeah. all right. sorry. i'm just -- this is really insane what's happening here. rick, thank you so much. >> you're very welcome. >> please keep sending your opinions in. you may actually make twitter

freeze just like it just happened. i think it will come back. incredible issue. i want that one. i know you have different cover ones. this is the one. the symbol of so many different things that are happening around the world. incredible little girl. rick, thank you very much. up next, we're going to explain why twitter just froze on us. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] ah... retirement. sit back, relax,

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four months after the newtown tragedy claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 teachers, yesterday 46 senators helped vote down a simple bill on universal background checks choosing the easy political route. kelly o'donnell has more on president obama's reaction and what's next in the gun debate. >> reporter: surrounding the president in the rose garden, the first words about what comes next belonged to the father of a young boy taken in newtown. >> we will always be here because we have no other choice. we are not going away. >> reporter: gabby giffords says

many senators chose powerful gun groups over their constituents. >> the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill. >> reporter: president obama said the bill did not harm gun rights. >> this legislation met that test. too many senators failed theirs. >> shame on you! >> reporter: more anger erupted when a woman shouted at senators "shame on you." most republicans and four democrats from states with high gun ownership voted against expanding background checks. >> criminals do not submit to background checks now. they will not submit to expanded background checks. >> the way to stop violent crime is to stop violent criminals. >> reporter: later today a bipartisan group of senators will roll out immigration reform. democrat senator joe manchin who fought hard to get enough votes on background checks found that with two politically hard votes, some senators chose immigration

over guns. >> if you look at it and trying to evaluate, maybe immigration and maybe guns on top of that might be too much for me to go home and explain. >> on these issues, joe, you know what's going to happen. you always say it. you get landbla blasted for it. where do you think this is going? i see a massive, negative response to what's happened here. >> i'll say it here. it is self-indulgent. forgive me. in 2003 i started warning that george w. bush and republicans were spending too much money. in 2004 i wrote a book saying that the deficit and the debt would explode because we were being reckless. i got hammered by conservatives and talk radio hosts who claim to be conservative who said very little to nothing. it's happened time and time and time again. i made the same warnings throughout the campaign back in

early september. i was saying that romney was in trouble. you really would have thought that i put on a red jacket and was reading chairman mouse sitting cross legged on my floor dropping acid. the response is always anger to what i say and then of course i end up being proven right. all of the criticisms i made of george w. bush about five years later other conservatives are finally making those criticisms. this is an easy call. this is an easy call. you want to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. you've got somebody on the top ten terror list by the fbi saying that our background check system will allow terrorists to come and shoot american citizens. you have so many other examples of how this bill could have made a huge difference and yet the republican party almost all in mass and enough democrats were

too cowardly to do the right thing and instead they bowed to a special interest group and 7% of the population. the 90% will not forget. this bill is going to pass and there will be people who voted to keep the guns out -- in the hands of criminals and they will lose their next election and there's nothing they can do. thank you. good night and good-bye. >> we should work on the next step and work on the mental health angle and instead we're back at square one and based at the reaction we're getting online right here, i don't know who the people in washington are pandering to. i really don't. >> they are pandering to the 7% and pandering to nra extremist wing. nra members i know want background checks. they like people who play by the rules. they like a safe america.

those people are not the nra that did this yesterday. this is the extremist wing. survivalist wing of the nra and they're going to lose. they're 7% of the population. good luck with that 7%. ♪ [ male announcer ] were you more interesting in your twenties, or now? when you were starting out? or after a few decades working in some well-worn character? experience makes you wiser for the wear. and now come the richer possibilities. [ children laughing ] aarp.

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